French Soccer Institute makes pitch to San Clemente

A French soccer organization that is in negotiations with the city to develop a new $25 million soccer facility in San Clemente drummed up interest for camps it will be holding in the city this month with three free youth soccer clinics on Saturday.

Several former French professional soccer players, who work for the French Soccer Institute, were out at three fields in San Clemente providing one-hour skills clinics to introduce the French approach to the game.

"The idea is to try and know a little bit more about the community and to show what we can do here," said French Soccer Institute CEO Alexis Gallice. "It's not just about (creating) another soccer organization, it's about raising the level of play in the local territory."

San Clemente resident Debra Carter said she brought her two kids, Trent, 12, and Riley, 9, to the clinic because they both play soccer and wanted to check out what the French Soccer Institute had to offer.

"It's sounded pretty exciting," she said. "The level of play over in Europe is definitely higher than here in the United States, so we wanted to see what they had to offer."

The kids worked on several drills; they were taught new ways to dribble, pass, shoot and play defense and they also got a chance to play a small scrimmage at the end of the clinic.

Mark Garcia, 13, and his friend Jason Garcia, 13, both of Dana Point, showed up hoping to see what the French had to offer.

"The training was different, they had a different style of drills," Jason Garcia said.

Other kids at the camp said they enjoyed the drills and scrimmage.

"I liked the scrimmage; I like practicing my skills, but I'd rather play the game because it's more fun for me," said Trent Stacy, 10.

Trent was joined by his sister Kirra, 7, and brother Nate, 5, at Vista Hermosa Sports Park. Their mom, Kelly Stacy, said the free clinic was a good idea on FSI's part.

"I think it's great that they're giving back to the community and especially if it's something they want to start, like, building a rapport here, I think it's a good idea they're giving back," Kelly Stacy said.

She said the big difference between the French Soccer Institute and an organization like AYSO is that the FSI has former professionals teaching the kids how to play whereas AYSO consists of volunteers.

"The idea is to create the best model of youth training development in San Clemente," Gallice said. "We think that we bring some great experience."